Hakone Restaurant Buffet

Monday, March 28, 2011

Buffets and I have a love/hate thing going. I love the variety and quantity in buffets but I usually eat too much so I don’t usually like going to buffets. I think there’s a tendency to want to get your money’s worth so people overeat. That being said, chose wisely when you go to a buffet since you can’t take home any leftovers.

Last night hubby and I were invited to dinner at 7:30 p.m. at Hakone. We’ve never been to the Hakone Restaurant at the Hawaii Prince before so we didn’t know what to expect.

The buffet is a Japanese buffet so if you don’t like Japanese food such as sashimi, sushi, shabu shabu you might prefer to eat at the Prince Court at the Hawaii Prince Hotel although you can order a steak at Hakone.

I started the buffet with sushi. There is a limit of 6 pieces per visit. My friend was in line in front of me and ordered the uni and fresh raw shrimp but they were out of those items so he ordered natto and picked other items already prepared. I chose the ahi, tamago and spicy tuna sushi. The spicy tuna was pretty good except that the nori was not crisp. I think it would be better to have an earlier reservation (ie. 5:30 p.m.) to make sure that the type of sushi you want is available. Hubby had the unagi, tamago, and tuna salad. He liked the tuna salad sushi but said that the unagi at Yanagi Sushi is better.

I did not try everything. However, there’s a lot of seafood. If you like sashimi and sushi you can eat to your heart’s content. My faves on the buffet line were the chawan mushi (had two bowls), the shoyu pork, sukiyaki, raw salmon and onions, and pumpkin. There were also crab legs, steak, and lamb chops on the buffet line.

I also had a piece of steak and a lamb chop. The lamb chop was good but cold. I would have had more but the lamb was more rare than I like it.

Hubby had sashimi and the tempura and said that the tempura was mediocre. Note that the sauce for the tempura is in the hot pot which you have to press.

I also enjoyed the flan and cheesecake for dessert. The key lime pie looked good too but I was too full to eat anything else.

The cost of the buffet from Friday to Sunday is $48/person. On Wed and Thursday the buffet is $46 but is a limited buffet. You get to order an entree off the menu plus have the limited buffet. The sushi is not as extensive as on the weekend. Currently, the cost of the buffet for kama’aina seniors 50 years and older on Wednesdays and Thursdays is $36.

Hakone Restaurant is located at the Hawaii Prince Hotel on 100 Holomoana Street. For reservations call 944-4494. Be sure to specify Hakone.